As we welcome the new year, it’s exciting to hear more about some of the new trends facing the commercial drone industry in 2018. Not only has the industry gained traction, but it’s been brought into the national spotlight during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. For the first time, the public has an aerial view of the widespread impact of these natural disasters while allowing insurance companies to asses and close claims at record breaking speeds.

Going into 2018, I believe we’ll see continued growth in the commercial UAV space, and a bigger push from UAV manufacturers, service providers, and startups into the enterprise space as local regulations begin to relax and drones can fly farther, fly longer, and fly autonomously.

1. DJI will continue to grow quicker and faster as they enter into new verticals

DJI has been the unprecedented, market leader in the consumer drone space. It’s estimated they own about 72% of the global market for consumer drones, and even higher when considering their primary product line of prosumer drones (ex Phantom series, Inspire series, Matrice series). DJI has also slowly and quietly been exploring additional verticals and enterprise use cases to propel the company beyond consumer hardware, as can be seen with their entrance into the Agriculture space with the AGRAS MG-1 drone.

2. Drones will become more workflow driven as industries realize their true potential

Today, anybody and their grandmother can buy a consumer drone off the shelf. New services even allow them to monetize their drones by filming residential properties or events. As we begin to see larger enterprise applications open up in agriculture, aggregates, construction, and insurance, the industries will demand a much more robust, efficient system that can easily integrate into their existing workflows. This means better integration of aerial data with current project management software, inventory management systems, and claims estimation solutions.

3. Interconnected systems will allow for larger fleet deployments

As drones move from small innovation groups to larger enterprise deployments, we will begin to see larger and larger fleets being deployed. Interconnected drones, hardware, and systems will make it easier than even for larger enterprise customers to view and and manage a fleet of operators and drones across the organization. These building blocks will help build and shape a more unified air traffic management solution moving into the future.

4. We will begin to new entrants into the space, while others begin to consolidate

As we progress into 2018, we will begin to see the dominant players in the hardware and software space begin to materialize. Today, there are hundreds of scattered drone startups, hardware manufacturers, and software cluttering the environment. The acquisitions and consolidations have already begun, with GoPro leaving the drone industry, and Redbird’s acquisition. On the other end of the spectrum, we will see new entrants putting their hat in the ring. Existing drone programs will enter the mainstream with companies like Intel, Google, and Facebook will begin to take their drone programs from the R&D stage towards productization.

5. New sensors and equipment will allow for new use cases

In 2017, we’ve seen a few organizations begin to use thermal imagery to assist with search and rescue operations and firefighting. As we progress into 2018, we will begin to see additional sensors such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) become a norm on enterprise UAV’s, allowing them to pierce through heavy vegetation and cover, and detect narrow objects like power lines, pipelines, and roof edges far better than orthomosaic imagery.

6. Regulations will continue to ease up and enable new use cases

We will begin to see progress with Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) solutions and drone integration, a technology that will be as crucial for the commercial drone industry as the Part 107 certification and drone registrations. The FAA has already begun issuing limited waivers for certain companies to test UAV’s beyond line of sight, and we will continue to see that trend through 2018. Waivers in the future will help increase drone adoption as we can have people in the field managing swarms of drones to perform functions ranging from package deliveries to pipeline inspections.

7. Piloting will become more automated with intelligent mission planning

Today, there are a variety of different tools at the pilots disposal for mission planning, from full manual control, to completely automated systems. In 2018, we will begin to see more advancements in obstacle detection and avoidance, artificial intelligence, the unmanned traffic management system, and ease of controlling fleets of aircraft. Intel has already shown us a sneak peak by flying 250 drones over the Bellagio during CES. These advancements will require mission planning and piloting to become far more automated, providing pilots with limited manual control, but addressing concerns around safety, privacy, and security.

The commercial drone industry shows no sign of stopping, and we can expect to see a dramatic increase in enterprise aerial applications in our communities and around the world.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading “The Hard Thing about Hard Things”, a great book by Ben Horowitz, would definitely recommend for anyone working in fast growing companies or teams that are looking for advice across all facets of a business.

As I was reading through the book, I came across an excerpt written by Ben titled “Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager” where he walks through some of the good and bad qualities of product managers across a variety of industries.

In essence, he states that good product managers know the market, the product, the product line and the competition extremely well and operates from a strong basis of knowledge and confidence. They are the CEO and owner of that product and they must take full responsibility for the success or failure of the product. They are responsible for right product/right time and all that entails. A good product manager knows the context going in (the company, our revenue funding, competition, etc.), and they take responsibility for devising and executing a winning plan (no excuses).

Bad product managers have lots of excuses. Not enough funding, the engineering manager is an idiot, Microsoft has 10 times as many engineers working on it, I’m overworked, I don’t get enough direction. They voice their opinion verbally and lament that the “powers that be” won’t let it happen. Once bad product managers fail, they point out that they predicted they would fail. They define good products that can’t be executed or let engineering build whatever they want (i.e. solve the hardest problem). They get very confused about the differences amongst delivering value, matching competitive features, pricing, and ubiquity. Good product managers decompose problems. Bad product managers combine all problems into one.

Today, drones are being used across a wide variety of industries including agriculture, real estate, inspections, mining, and construction. These drones are on the cutting edge of technology, equipped with a variety tools that enable them to track site progress, locate and calculate volume of inventory on a site, and even physically assist with different aspects of a construction site.

At Kespry, we truly believe in the immense value that drones can provide to a variety of industries, and specifically civil construction. At the core of our product is the ease and simplicity of gathering high quality, actionable data.

Imagine being able to gather daily construction status, track your progress to completion, estimate timelines, track inventory and equipment, and be able to share this information in an interactive 3D environment with stakeholders around the world. This is no longer a vision in the clouds. Many aspects are available within the Kespry system today, with many more soon to become a reality.

After spending almost a year and a half in rental cars, hotel rooms, and flights, with impulse trips to Stockholm, Mexico City, Japan, Macau, and more, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite travel hacks for the modern traveler. Whether you’re a consultant, working remote, or just love traveling, these hacks will be sure to get you room upgrades, first class tickets, and that hot pink convertible you’ve always dreamed of.

Airline Elite Status Challenge

Hotel Elite Status Challenge

Car Elite Status Matches

Chase Sapphire Reserve

TSA Precheck/Global Entry

1. Airline Elite Status Challenge

I had gone far too long before I realized the wonders of Airline Elite Status Challenges. What is an Airline Elite Status Challenge? Great question!

Have you every wondered how certain travelers always get the best seats, always board first, and almost always get upgraded to first class? Let me tell you, it’s not always because they’re paying for it, it’s because they have status with the airline and you don’t have to be a frequent traveler to get access. To get the most basic status on most airlines you would need to fly a minimum of 25,000 miles within one year. Those miles may be physical distance flown, or some combination of physical distance and the amount you paid for the ticket. Even this can be hard to achieve if you only fly every few months.

In comes the elite status challenges. Soon after I started consulting, I learned that you could secretly apply for these airline status challenges that will let you earn status quickly if you can prove you fly often. More often than not, this means you would need to fly just 12,500 miles within 90 days to get the next level of status.

Here is a great article from The Points Guy about how to hack the American Executive Platinum Challenge. It’s important to note you may have to pay for some of these challenges or need to qualify first, but definitely worth the challenge.

For American, you can accept a challenge to receive AAdvantage Gold status by earning 7,000 elite qualifying miles (EQMS) within 90 days and paying a $120 fee. Or, you can obtain a challenge to receive AAdvantage Platinum status by earning 12,500 EQMs in 90 days and paying a $200 fee.

To sign up for one of these offers, you can contact American Airlines at 888-697-5636.

For United, it’s a little trickier. They don’t have an outright challenge, but they will match the status on any of their competitors, including American and Delta. Check out their MileagePlus Premier Status Match Challenge page for more details and to match your status.

2. Hotel Elite Status Challenge

Marriott/SPG, Hilton, IHG, all have similar challenges where you can earn status quickly if you can prove you’re a consistent traveler. Usually you have to wait until you qualify for these challenges, but what many don’t know, is that you can simply call up the rewards line at the hotel and ask to do their Elite Status Challenge.

It’s what I was able to do with both Marriott and Hyatt. Just be prepared to complete the challenge once you start it. If you fail to complete the challenge within the allotted time, you won’t receive status, and you won’t be able to do the challenge again for another 5 years.

Be aware of any potential partnerships between airlines and hotels as well. United and Marriott have an exclusive partnership, allowing status holders on the airline or hotel to match that status to the other. So if you have gold status with United, you may be able to earn automatic gold status with Marriott and vice versa.

3. Car Elite Status Matches

Same goes for earning status with Hertz, Avis, and many other car rental companies. I will admit, it’s harder to get a status match with Hertz, but it is possible. With Hertz gold, for example, you can get automatically confirmed vehicle reservations, expedited rental service, upgrades, and point’s bonuses. Check with your hotel or airline to see if they offer a match for car rental companies.

4. Chase Sapphire Reserve

I wrote extensively about the Chase Sapphire Reserve in another article, but I’ll give you the quick and dirty here. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get 100,000 points after you spend $4000 in the first 3 months (worth $2100 with Chase Ultimate Rewards®), $300 annual travel credit automatically applied to your account after each travel expense, $100 reimbursement for your Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® application, access to 900+ airport lounges worldwide, and 3X points on Hotels, Flights, Taxis (Ubers, Lyfts), Restaurants, and any other travel related expenses.

5. TSA Pre-check/Global Entry

While there are numerous other options for expedited airport security (CLEAR for example), TSA Pre-check or Global Entry is still the quickest and most affordable way to get through security. I almost missed my flight back to San Francisco from Chicago when I was visiting family for Thanksgiving. If it wasn’t for TSA Pre-check, I would have definitely missed my flight. The best part is that with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get free credit for TSA Pre-check or Global Entry, and once approved, you’ll have it for 5 years.

While this list is not exhaustive, these are some of the best travel hacks I’ve found during my year and a half of constant travelling. If you know of any other hacks I may have forgotten, comment below!

December of 2015, I went on an 8 Day solo trip through Japan hitting up Tokyo, Kyoto, Mt. Koya, and Osaka. By more one of the most exciting and impulsive trips I’ve ever taken. In this video, I hit up Akhibara, Asakusa, Ueno Park, and of course, a Maid Cafe (If you don’t know what that is, Google it). Stay tuned for my next video on Mt. Koya, and praying with Buddhist monks in the hills of Japan.

During my Hong Kong trip this past winter, after a short soiree through Japan, my friend and I decided to take a quick trip to the Sin City of the East, Macau. As in my usual attitude towards “nothing but the best”, we decided to stay in one of the best hotels we could muster in the Las Vegas of Asia, the Ritz Carlton. We booked the Carlton Suite with a 1 King bedroom, 1.5 marble bathrooms, complimentary wine, and a fully automated bidet, which I’ll get to in just a minute.

No joke, this hotel room was 13,500 HKG for one night, which converts to about $1700 USD a night. Using my Chase Sapphire Reserve points, we were able to reserve this room for only about 40,000 points.

Getting to the hotel was a challenge in itself, as we navigated the maze that was the Galaxy Macau complex with 6 different hotels, 3 Michelin star restaurants, and a massive casino.

We took the elevator up to the 51st floor to check into the hotel. In front of us were two large desks, occupied by two receptionists, and surrounded by rather large vases. Towards the back were sweeping views of downtown Macau. You could see the Macau Tower, MGM Macau, and Wynn Macau, amongst a few. I sat down at the desk as a woman checked me in, asked for the usual information (although a bit skeptical at what a 23-year-old such as myself was doing at a resort like the Ritz Carlton), and proceeded to give me details about the room.

We took the elevator down to the 35th floor, walked down a long, calmly lit hallway lined with even more large vases, and stepped into the Carlton Suite.

The king bedroom had it’s own chandelier, love seat, tv, automated curtains and blinds, and was connected to the luxurious, top to bottom, marble bathroom.

The bathroom was covered in marble, had its own chandelier, hot tub, his and her’s vanities, a rain shower, a powder room, and a fully automated bidet with a remote control. This was the most advanced toilet I’ve ever seen, even compared to Japan, with buttons to lift up the seat, light-up the bowl, and even air it out.

The living room had more vases, a little study area, a half bathroom, a wine cabinet, and another bed.

Before arriving, the staff had laid out a welcome package for us, complete with a complimentary bottle of red wine, and assorted fruits, chocolates, and macaroons.

They even wrote me a hand written letter to welcome us to the Ritz Carlton. Now that’s some VIP service!

Overall, we had a great time in Macau. The Ritz-Carlton was one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at in my life. It’s unfair to compare Macau to Sin City. It’s another animal entirely, and definitely a city worth visiting again!

“Each complex is a small town, and their numbers make up this enormous capital. Like cells in a body, each contains identical elements, and the resulting pattern is an organic one.” – Donald Ritchie

The nighttime lights in Tokyo are overwhelming. Billions of bright bulbs and boards begging for your attention, yearning for your Japanese yen. You think: ‘With all this brilliance, the rumors must be true: this must be one of the most expensive cities on Earth. How else could they afford their electricity bills?’ But I’ve got a little secret for you: Tokyo isn’t as expensive as everyone says it is.

This past winter, I decided to take a solo trip through Japan, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Mt. Koya, and Osaka along the way (videos to come soon). Unlike my previous, way over the top trips, like spending a Weekend in Stockholm, visiting the Avenue of the Dead, flying First Class from Hong Kong to San Francisco, or staying at the Ritz Carlton in Macau, I decided to a take a more down to earth approach to Japan, staying in hostels and meeting locals. Over the course of 4 days in Tokyo, we grew our squad to 3 Americans, 2 Australians, and 1 Malaysian, visited some of the best spots and bars in Tokyo, and found what it truly meant to visit the Land of the Rising Sun. Below I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 affordable places you should visit in Tokyo.

1. GOLDEN GAI

Golden Gui was, by far, one of my favorite places to visit in Tokyo. A subset of the Shinjuku neighborhood, Golden Gui is composed of a small network of 6 narrow alleys, barely wide enough for a single person to walk through with over 200 tiny, shanty-style bars, clubs, and eateries in one square block. Many of the bars are restricted to “foreigners” and are reserved for regulars only, while others are open to new visitors and feature various themes ranging from old-school speakeasies to straight up Hello Kitty.

2. SHINJUKU

Shinjuku is the larger neighborhood that contains Golden Gui and is one of the largest neighborhoods for nightlife and bars when compared to Hong Kong, London, or even New York. This neighborhood is just as busy as the popular shopping district, Shibuya, but with more millennials and some of the craziest sites in Tokyo, like the Robot Restaurant shown above.

3. SHIBUYA

Shibuya is the largest shopping district in Tokyo, with more neon signs per square block to compete with Times Square in New York. There are more two-story televisions in this neighborhood than anywhere else in the world. It’s a popular shopping and eating destination among many Tokyoites (Yes, that’s actually what they’re called). Beautiful lights at night, and hundreds of shopping options, make this a classic destination of choice in Tokyo.

4. ASAKUSA

I stayed in a hostel in Asakusa during my visit to Tokyo. One of the more affordable locations for solo travelers, and also home to Sensoji Temple, Tokyo’s oldest and most significant Buddhist temple. During the day, you can walk by the hundreds of restaurants and tourist shops lining the path leading up to Sensoji Temple.

5. UENO PARK

Take a stroll through the beautiful Ueno Park, and watch families soaking in the sun, observe street performers, and find locals painting some of the beautiful scenes that can be found within the park, like the old man painting Toshogu Shrine above.

6. OWL CAFE

You’ve probably heard of the many cat cafes throughout Japan, allowing weary travelers to grab a coffee while enjoying the company of cats from around the world. Owl Cafes, on the other hand, are a whole nother animal (pun intended). Take a break by checking out the Owl Cafe in Asakusa, grab a coffee, and pet a Barn Owl.

7. MAID CAFE

While lesser known, Maid Cafes are a subset of the many cosplay restaurants in Tokyo. Waitresses dressed in maid costumes act as servants and treat the customers as masters. Definitely one of the more interesting experiences in Tokyo, and a must for groups!

8. TSUTA RAMEN RESTAURANT

Enjoy Ramen? Then definitely stop by Tsuta, a tiny ramen restaurant located in the Sugamo neighborhood, and the only ramen restaurant to receive 1 Michelen star. I got there early to get a ticket with my reservation time for 1pm, allowing us to explore the city and come back at our specified time. Once inside, you go to the vending machine, select the type of ramen you would like to order, and pay. Needless to say, it was some of the best ramen I’ve ever had in my life.

9. TOKYO SKYTREE

The Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower just north-east of the Asakusa neighborhood. While traditionally more touristy, you can get sweeping 360 views of Tokyo from the upper decks, and American tourists can get priority access. I would suggest going to the Skytree right before sunset to catch a glimpse of why Japan is called the Land of the Rising Sun.

10. MT. FUJI

Mt. Fuji is a must see if you go during the summer. I made the mistake of going in the winter when amateur hikers are discouraged from making the trek due to limited amenities and guides available. The mountain itself may look more attractive from afar than from close up, but the views on clear days and the experience of climbing through the early morning hours among hundreds of equally minded hikers from across the world are very rewarding.